The Acton Center Historic District encompasses the historic heart of the once-rural, now suburban, town of

Acton, Massachusetts Acton is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, approximately west-northwest of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston along Massachusetts Route 2 west of Concord, Massachusetts, Concord and about southwest of Lowell ...

. The district includes properties on Main Street, Wood and Woodbury Lanes, Newtown, Concord, and Nagog Hill Roads, and has been the town's civic heart since its establishment in the 1730s. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983.

Description and history

The area that is now Acton was granted to English colonial settlers in 1643, but was not settled until 1680 as part of

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

. It was separately incorporated in 1735. The town's early civic buildings and common area were located near its geographic center, which for much of the colonial period remained a small agricultural settlement. It remained so due to the absence of water power for industrial growth, which led to the growth of West Acton and South Acton. It was also bypassed by the railroad, but remained of civic importance due to the presence of churches and civic buildings. Most of the housing stock in Acton Center is Federal or Greek Revival in style, although there are some houses that have later Italianate and Queen Anne styling, and there are several Colonial Revival houses. The historic district extends along Main Street (

Massachusetts Route 27 Route 27 is a south–north state highway in eastern Massachusetts. Its southern terminus is at Massachusetts Route 106, Route 106 in Kingston, Massachusetts, Kingston and its northern terminus is at Massachusetts Route 4, Route 4 in Chelms ...

) from the triangular common in the west to Nagog Hill in the east, and includes a few buildings on adjacent roadways. The common is the remnant of the town's original common, established in 1731, and houses the town's monument to the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. It was here that the town's militia company mustered for the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

that sparked the conflict. The town's main civic buildings are in the district: the Congregational Church (1846, later restyled with Queen Anne details), the Town Hall (1863, Italianate), and Acton Memorial Library (1889, Romanesque Revival).

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Historic districts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Acton, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References